1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to decorative wheels and wheel assemblies and, more particularly, to a decorative wheel skin cover for use with a standard wheel construction for providing the wheel with a more attractive appearance and at a lesser cost than would otherwise be necessary by the purchase of new wheels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Decorative wheel and wheel covering devices are known in the art, the purpose for which is to provide a quick and inexpensive option for increasing the attractiveness of the vehicle's wheels and without the requisite expense of purchasing new wheels and the need for elevating the vehicle to remove the old wheels and to mount and balance the new replacement wheels. A particular purpose behind such wheel coverings, or wheel skins, is to replicate the appearance of chrome plated steel wheels at considerable less cost than purchasing new wheels.
One type of commonly known wheel covering according to the prior art incorporates the feature of inwardly contouring an outer annular edge of the wheel covering so that, upon assembly of the wheel over the exposed inner drum, the outer edge engages in a snap-fit manner the corresponding contours in the outer diameter of the drum. While being an effective securing means in many instances, the snap-fit arrangement of the covering member against the drum according to this known embodiment suffers from the shortcoming that the covering member may "fly off" the wheel drum during travel of the vehicle at higher speeds, and this often results from inadequate or incomplete sealing between the covering member and the drum. It is also useful to point out that, during high speed rotation of the wheel, the greatest generation of centrifugal forces will be located at the outer diameter of the wheel covering and it can also be argued that pretty much everyone has witnessed at one time or another a wheel covering flying off of a vehicle wheel as a result of inadequate holding forces established therebetween.
Other means for securing a decorative covering member to a vehicle hub or drum are illustrated in the prior art, and such references include U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,502, issued to Connell, which teach the use of double-sided adhesives by themselves for securing the wheel covering to the drum. Other known covering member devices incorporate the use of clips or other similar retaining means for securing a covering member onto a vehicle drum and the prior art references being concurrently submitted herewith are referred to as illustrating several different variations of such assemblies. U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,465, issued to Price et al., is further cited as teaching a more recent method and system for mounting decorative wheel covers by means of adapters which frictionally engage the outer peripheries of standard lug nuts and without affecting the seating of the lug nuts to the wheels.